Annual Report 2017

The Wenner-Gren Foundations (WGF) seek to promote international cooperation in the area of scientific research. To this end, WGF provide housing for visiting researchers at the Wenner-Gren Center in Stockholm, and awards grants both to Swedish researchers who wish to travel abroad, and to visiting scientists who would like to come to Sweden. Further, WGF organize international symposia, usually located at the Wenner-Gren Center, and provides grants to external international symposia in Sweden. Travel grants are provided for young researchers to participate in conferences, workshops and symposia. Finally, WGF organize Wenner-Gren Distinguished Lectures and provides financial support for foreign guest lecturers to be invited to Swedish universities and colleges. The Foundations’ administrative office is located at the Wenner-Gren Center in Stockholm.

Visiting scholars residences are located in Helicon, a semi-circular, three-story building in the Wenner-Gren Center. From an academic standpoint, the Wenner-Gren Center is centrally located in Stockholm, and all resident scientists are close to their workplace, be it Karolinska Institute, Stockholm University, KTH Royal Institute of Technology or Stockholm School of Economics. In total, 156 apartments are available for visiting scientists for a maximum period of two years, and rents are subsidized via specific housing grants. In 2017, resident researchers came from 37 different nations, with Germany, India, China, the US, Italy, Spain, Australia and Russia best represented, in that order. The CEO of WGF hosted a special reception for guests in the banquet room at the Wenner-Gren Center, on May 8 and 9.

WGF offer a comprehensive program for international scientific exchange of researchers. After completion of their doctorate, especially promising young Swedish scientists may obtain postdoctoral fellowships for study abroad and repatriation to Sweden (Wenner-Gren Fellows). Senior Swedishresearchers can apply for sabbatical grants for visits abroad. For visiting foreign scientists, young researchers from abroad may work at Swedish universities supported by postdoctoral fellowships, while senior researchers from abroad may apply for guest researcher grants.

During 2017, a total of 110 scholarships were granted within the international scientific exchange program. The grants were distributed as follows: Wenner-Gren Fellows (17), Swedish postdoctoral fellowships (2), sabbatical fellowships (12), foreign postdoctoral fellowships (64), and senior visiting scientists (15). It may be added that WGF examine the distribution of fellowships by gender when the material is sufficient and there were in general no disfavor of female applicants. The Scientific Committee continuously follows the gender balance among granted applications.

During the course of the year, the Wenner-Gren Fellowship program involved 31 scientists, of whom 15 were conducting their postdoctoral education abroad, 2 had fellowships in Sweden and 14 led their own research group in Sweden. Five new Fellows were selected this year, and hadchosen internationally outstanding research groups in the US for their foreign postdoctoral education. The WG Fellowship program is designed to give these fellows the opportunity for a three-year visit abroad and to facilitate their establishment as an independent researcher on their return to Sweden. To this end, each returning Fellow receives a grant to cover a two-year position in Sweden and a freely disposable one-time research grant of SEK 400,000, may recruit a postdoctoral researcher from abroad, and can apply for a planning grant of up to SEK 30,000 to establish collaborations with foreign research groups. Feedback from this repatriation program has been very positive.

Each year, all WG Fellows are invited to a meeting at the Wenner-Gren Center, which was held on September 15 this year. More than half of the Fellows attended the meeting. Three of the active Fellows and two previous Fellows recounted their experiences abroad, their current research activities and their plans for the future. After the presentations the board member Prof. Hans Ellegren led a discussion on career possibilities for young scientists, and the WG Fellow program was discussed in general terms.

For the ninth time, WGF arranged a homecoming information event (Hemvändardagen) at the Wenner-Gren Center on September 14 this year. The event is intended primarily for postdoctoral fellows who are currently overseas or recently returned to Sweden, and is announced via Swedish universities. In addition to the Foundations postdoctoral fellows, postdoctoral fellows funded by the Swedish Research Council, Ingvar Carlsson Awardees supported by the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research and young scientists supported by Riksbankens Jubileumsfond were also invited to attend. In total a good 80 young scientists participated. As in previous years, the goal was to inform young scientists about the Swedishacademic system (employment opportunities, how to apply for grants, etc.) in order to make it easier for them to plan their return to Sweden. Nine research-funding bodies presented their respective programs for supporting young researchers, and at the end of the day the WGF’s CEO led a discussion on career planning. A joint lunch offered networking opportunities for the participants.

Senior Swedish researchers (sabbatical fellows) primarily choose to visit universities in the US and in Europe.

Foreign postdoctoral fellows sought to visit universities across the country, but Stockholm was overrepresented among the scholarships awarded(45%). No less than 27 countries were represented among the grantees, and several fellows came from Spain, France, Germany, the US, Australia and UK, in that order. Well-educated young researchers from abroad are a very important addition to Swedish research, and possibilities to apply for this type of scholarship within Sweden is limited. The foreign postdoctoral fellowships have proven to be one of the Foundations’ most popular programs.

The usually very highly qualified senior visiting researchers receive grants to cover their increased living costs in Sweden, and typically they retain their salary from their home institution. As before, most of the senior fellows came from the US and Europe, and the host institutions were primarily in the Stockholm region.

WGF also awarded grants for the organization of external seminars, usually with a distinctive theme and with a clear international character. In 2017, 17 applications for this form of symposium support were granted.

Guest lectures supported by WGF are of two types: Wenner-Gren Distinguished Lectures and regular guest lectures at universities and universitycolleges. In May 2017, WGF organized a Wenner-Gren Distinguished Lecture by Professor John Diffley, The Francis Crick Institute, Great Britain, at Gothenburg University and Umeå University. Professor Diffley is a world-leading scientist who studies how DNA is replicated in yeasts and human cells. His results may in the future lead to possibilities to manipulate human DNA synthesis, e.g. in cancer therapies. WGF also gave a number of researchers and institutions funding to invite 15 guest speakers during the course of 2017. It may be noted that even smaller universities and university colleges use this form of support for international scientific exchange, and guest speakers were from Great Britain, the US, Laos, Canada, Russia and Switzerland.

WGF award travel grants for study trips abroad to younger postdoctoral researchers working in Sweden. Requirements include the researcher´s active participation in a conference, symposium or workshop; that is, to give a lecture, participate with a poster or be chairperson. Ninety-fourapplications were funded in 2017.

WGF allocate funds (Special grants) for the dissemination of knowledge about research and research training, which in the long term may be expected to promote the Foundations’ objectives. This year, grants have been awarded to Science Research School in Karlskoga, the Researcher’sNight in Stockholm, and the Federation of Young Scientists 2016 exhibition.

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